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Asia-Pacific Forum
on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 13, Issue 1, Article 3 (Jun., 2012) |
Constructivist Views of Science Teaching and Learning
A constructivist view of knowledge and learning has led to changes in teaching approaches in science education. These ideas have had a major influence on the thinking of science educators over the last two decades (Fensham, Gunstone & White, 1994). Students come to class with their existing ideas from which they make sense of their world. Science teaching needs to lead students to interact with these ideas by making them explicit and then promoting consideration of whether or not other ideas make better sense (Carr et al., 1994). From a constructivist teaching point of view, the main concern in teaching science is “how to organize the physical and social experiences in a science classroom so as to encourage development or change in learners’ conceptions from their informal ideas to those of accepted school science” (Scott, Asoko, Driver & Emberton, 1994, p.201). Constructivist teaching involves “judgments about how much and what form of guidance is best for any topic and any group of learners, and when to provide it” (Fensham et al. 1994, p.6). The teaching procedure, Prediction-Observation-Explanation, is one such approach.
Prediction-Observation-Explanation (POE)
Prediction-Observation-Explanation (POE) is a constructivist teaching strategy developed by White and Gunstone (1992). The POE strategy is often used in science teaching. It requires three tasks to be carried out. First, this strategy helps to uncover individual students’ predictions, and their reasons for making these about a specific event. Second, students describe what they see in the demonstration - observation. Third, students must reconcile any conflict between their prediction and observation – explanation. POEs can therefore be used to explore students’ ideas at the beginning of a topic, or to develop ideas during a topic, or to enhance understanding at the end of a topic (Gunstone & Mitchell, 1998). Through this teaching procedure, students are assisted in attempting to apply their learning to a real context. It is not about telling students the right answer at the end (Loughran, 2010). Moreover, this strategy focuses on linking students’ existing ideas and beliefs relevant to a situation and exploring the appropriateness of these ideas and beliefs (Gunstone, 1995).
Attributes that Characterise Professional Learning Communities
The research-based literature on the attributes that characterise PLCs has grown up over the last couple of decades and much of that literature centres on Hord’s (1997) research-based characteristics of PLCs and the work of Dufour and Eaker (1998). At the same time, PLCs have also been influenced by Senge’s (1990) notion of learning organisation and culture. The other significant contributions have been that of Kruse, et al. (1994), Berlinger-Gastafson (2004) and Patterson and Rolheeiser (2004). The Annenberg Institute for School Reform (Annenberg Institute for School Reform, 2003) and Alberta Education (2006) also worked toward system wide reform and change initiatives. The following section discusses this literature in more detail.
Supportive and Shared Leadership Capacity
One of the defining characteristics of a PLC is that of power, authority and decision making as being both shared and encouraged (Hord & Sommers, 2008). It is also a common understanding that teachers find it difficult to propose any new ways of thinking and doing when the school or head of the department/principal is viewed as unwilling to share power. However, PLCs are places where both the principal and teachers are learners and distributed leadership positively impacts the situation (Hargreaves & Fink, 2006). Shared leadership structures are therefore important in PLCs. Hord (1997) emphasised shared leadership structures in which participants in PLCs have the ability to question, investigate and seek solutions for school improvement. Barth (2006) described a culture of collegiality for developing this attribute where participants share with others about their practice; share their craft knowledge; observe others’ practice and investigate for one another’s success
Shared Mission, Vision, Values and Goals
Shared mission, vision, values and goals are considered as a collective focus on and a commitment to student learning (DuFour, et al., 2008; Hord & Sommers, 2008; Kruse, et al., 1994). When schools work as PLCs, teachers find themselves with a fundamental responsibility for their students’ achievement. To attain this shared purpose, participants are encouraged to be involved in the process of developing a clear and compelling vision that works as a guidepost in decision making about challenges they face in schools on how their collaboration must contribute to their students’ learning. They ultimately build collective commitments that clarify the responsibility of individual teachers’ contributions to their students’ learning.
Collective Learning and Its Application
A PLC is a place where participants find opportunities to study together and work collaboratively (Hord & Sommers, 2008). Teachers expect that all students can learn at reasonably high levels as a consequence of their collaborative work. In practice, it does not happen due to different types of obstacles that students face outside the teaching institution. However, these opportunities help them to be involved in a continuous learning process and apply what they have learned to their practice. Such a collaborative process mainly emphasises the need to seek new knowledge collectively (Hord, 1997). Moreover, this collective learning is the “process of aligning and developing the capacities of a team to create the results its members truly desire” (Senge, 2000, p. 236).
Teachers need appropriate environments for their professional learning (Hord, 1997; 2004). Such environments value and support “hard work, the acceptance of challenging tasks, risk taking, and the promotion of growth” (Midgley & Wood, 1993, p. 252). Shared personal practice is one of the attributes that contributes to the development of such a setting for teachers’ professional learning and sensibly can be considered as one of the conditions that supports a professional learning community (Hord, 1997; Pickering, Daly & Pachler, 2007). For this purpose, teachers review each other’s practice (Hord, 2004) and behaviour (Hord, 1997, 2004; Kruse, et al., 1994) in their daily practice. There is a focus on a “peers helping peers” process (Hord, 2004, p. 11), not on any evaluation of teachers’ learning or teaching (Hord & Sommers, 2008). Teachers conduct this review through visiting each other’s classrooms on a regular basis to observe, write notes, discuss their observation with their visiting peers, as well as through staff meetings and specifically designed planning sessions (Hord, 1997; 2004; Patterson & Rolhiehieser, 2004).
Another purpose of shared personal practice is to support the adoption of new teaching practice. Members help each other to adopt a new teaching strategy through action research, coaching, mentoring, feedback, collaborative and collegial decision making (Alberta Education, 2006; Hord, 2004). In most cases, they use notes for discussion purposes during the feedback. Members also use these discussions to critique themselves.
These critiques can go in several different directions but are mainly focused on subject matter knowledge and the teaching strategies usually employed (Kruse, et al., 1994; Louis & Kruse, 1995). They also examine and question their existing teaching practice (Patterson & Rolhiehieser, 2004). They even encourage debate, agreement or disagreement about their teaching practice (Hord, 1997; Wignall, 1992). This allows for sharing of both failures and successes (Hord, 2004) and for analysing the problem for taking action (Patterson & Rolhiehieser, 2004). This ultimately brings a level of accountability, pressure and support for adoption of teaching practices to the members of PLCs through shared personal practice. The characteristic sharing of understanding and experiences of personal practice is, of course, directed toward improvement of both teaching and professional learning.
A Commitment to Continuous Improvement
The current focus of learning communities is on documenting evidence of improved practice of teachers (Annenberg Institute for School Reform, 2003). Schools need to develop strategies for documenting how teachers work together in PLCs to improve their collective practice. Teachers work within a learning community to develop a process to identify, collect and analyse specific examples of changes made in their practice. They participate in either grade-level or subject-area meetings, communicating with colleagues about their teaching and learning decisions and practice (Morrissey, 2000). These ultimately impact on the culture, norms and outcomes to show evidence that the professional learning community works to improve teachers’ learning experiences. However, a PLC also needs appropriate support to make it successful.
Supportive conditions determine “when, where, and how the staff regularly come together as a unit to do the learning, decision making, problem solving, and creative work that characterise a professional learning community” (Hord, 2004, p. 10). These are basically considered as logistics of PLCs (Hord & Sommers, 2008). Kruse, et al., (1994), Boyd (1992) and Berlinger-Gustafson (2004) worked to identify several categories that must be met in order for a PLC to be effective. These categories can be grouped in two categories: (1) Structural and physical factors regarding logistical conditions; and, (2) the Relational factors and human capacities which deals with the capacities and relationships developed across the participants (Hord & Sommers, 2008). The necessary conditions for physical and structural factors as mentioned by Kruse, et al. (1994) are time to meet and talk, physical proximity, independent teaching roles, communication structures, and teacher power and empowerment. The significance of the relational factors and human capacities which are considered social resources in a productive learning community is that they address teachers’ enthusiasm to acknowledge feedback and work for improvement (Boyd, 1992; Hord, 1997; Kruse, et al., 1994).
